Clemson’s seniors get shot at revenge
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Dabo and Duzz Show took center stage Friday afternoon in the capital city of ACC football, and it had some moments.
The head coaches of Clemson and Pitt stationed themselves behind a podium labeled “ACC Championship,” conference trophy sitting to their right, and got to chatting about their teams, their opponent and the other pomp and circumstance that comes with a title game.
Here are the highlights from their respective news conferences, as well as a conversation with longtime ACC commissioner John Swofford:
Swinney’s scout
For starters, the boss of the No. 2ranked team doesn’t know how much he’s favored by. And he doesn’t care. (For the record, the betting line has jumped up to 27½ points after opening at 22½.)
“We respect every opponent. We know anybody can beat us. This very team has beaten us. I’m sure they’ve had that running on a loop all week,” ACC coach of the year Dabo Swinney said with a grin. “A lot of those guys that beat us are still there. This [Clemson] senior class, this is their only ACC team they hadn’t beaten, that they’ve got a losing record to. I think it’s ironic, their last conference game ever comes down to having a chance to play Pitt, a team our guys have respect for. … To me, it’s 0-0 when you kick it off. You’ve got to prove it every week.”
But how can Pitt go about proving that? Swinney called the Panthers “a tough, physical team” and mentioned fullback George Aston, receiver Taysir Mack and tailbacks Qadree Ollison and Darrin Hall as he gave his scouting report.
‘In your grits’
Speaking of Swinney’s assessment of the Panthers, it hasn’t changed much since he previously saw them up-close. Though he did start reeling off what still stands out to him from Pitt’s 43-42 upset in 2016, when Nathan Peterman threw for 308 yards and five touchdowns.
“Peterman, was that the quarterback? Man, they were really good,” Swinney recalled. “That was a crazy game. … That was an unbelievably competitive game on both sides. We couldn’t stop them, they couldn’t stop us. We had more turnovers than they did, that ended up being the difference in the game. They stuffed us on fourth-and-1 at the end of the game where we could have put it away and didn’t. They made a great kick.
“It was just an awesome game. I don’t see much different. I think defensively, they’re exactly the same — in your grits. ‘If you can beat us, come beat us.’ They don’t give you any layups. They’re not a bend-but-don’t-break type of deal. They’re going to challenge you, force the issue.”
Swinney admitted that offensively, Pitt is “a little different” with Shawn Watson as its coordinator instead of Matt Canada. Certainly, the numbers are more than a little different. That Pitt team averaged 41 points and 447 yards per game; this one’s averaging 28 and 386.
No guarantees
In his session, Panthers coach Pat Narduzzi was reminded once again of his preseason, let’s just say, “projection” that Pitt would be in this spot come Dec. 1. He reiterated that he still doesn’t quite remember predicting that, and said he would like to see the video.
“We are here,” he acknowledged. “I’m glad I didn’t make any predictions, either.”
A few minutes later, Narduzzi was asked what he would tell anyone insisting that the Panthers don’t have any chance Saturday night to beat the three-time ACC championst.
“No comment,” Narduzzi said with a smirk. “I don’t know. I think anybody can beat anybody on any given day, period. We all know that. We can take all the measurables, we can talk about guys that are this tall and this tall, but the one thing I don’t think you can really measure is what’s inside that heart. Our kids are going to play with a lot of heart, with a lot of effort. Pittsburgh, we have a lot of toughness there, that’s what we expect to get out of our football team.”
Then he grinned again.
“I make no guarantees,” he added. “Got that?”
No, Narduzzi isn’t naive to the reality of what his group faces. Clemson’s seniors have won an ACC-record 52 games, and the Tigers aim to become the first three-time defending champion to make it four in a major conference since Florida won the SEC from 1993-96.
“I think there is a gap. They’re the benchmark of ACC football,” Narduzzi said of Clemson. “I think there’s a lot of great teams in the ACC. Dabo’s done an incredible job. I’ve got a lot of respect for him and what he’s done, how he’s done it. I think he’s done it the right way. I think he’s a stand-up guy. I think if you look at most conferences, it’s the same way. There’s always that one or two teams that are really controlling the conference. Look at Alabama, look at Clemson, look at, really, Ohio State and Michigan State the last couple years.
“That’s kind of what you work for. That’s where we want to be, and the only way you do that is you go out and beat them.”
Commissioner’s forum
It was something of a banner day for Swofford, who has headed the ACC since 1997. He announced the official launch date for the ACC Network, in conjunction with ESPN, as Aug. 22, 2019. A week later, the new linear channel will really kick off things by matching Georgia Tech and Clemson for a prime-time clash Aug. 29, a Thursday night.
There will be no surprise if Pitt opens its 2019 season in-conference, too, after rescheduling Delaware for later in the year. Swofford wouldn’t say if he anticipates the Panthers facing an ACC team on opening weekend, but Boston College and Virginia are two that don’t have a game scheduled yet for Aug. 31. Both visit Heinz Field next year.
“I can’t answer that yet,” Swofford said. “We get deeper into the schedule in, probably, early January.”
Swofford touched on a few other common topics. He made it clear that doing away with the ACC’s football format, or realigning the two divisions, is not currently being discussed. Neither is adding a ninth league game, and he doesn’t expect the College Football Playoff to expand to eight teams in the near future.
Swofford looks forward to meeting new Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper, a Carnegie Mellon and Pitt graduate whose franchise will play host to the ACC title game through 2030, and raved about the trajectory of the Panthers under athletic director Heather Lyke.
“I think it’s really, really excellent, actually,” Swofford said. “Heather’s been outstanding around the conference table. I don’t think there’s any question that she’s a quality athletic director with excellent leadership capacities and knows what a successful program needs going forward. And I’d say the same about [chancellor] Pat Gallagher. Pat Narduzzi mentioned him today in hiring him directly, and I think they both understand what an excellent athletic program can mean to the university as a whole, and where it should fit and how to get there. I think the resources are generally there, and the next piece of the puzzle, most of the time, is the people. You talk about the two people in leadership positions, then you talk about the coaches who have been hired recently in multiple sports, and I don’t see how you look at that any other way than with an upward arrow.”